JCC Offical Computer Help Thread V2.0

I do see one drawback - the lack of an optical drive. If you want to play DVDs. etc on the PC you would need one. If you don't care about that then it's not a drawback. I've heard good things about the brand itself.

 

I currently own a Lenovo and it's been good to be the past 6 years. The only issue is that it's starting to fall apart by the fan which is also where it plugs in, so it's only a matter of time until it becomes a brick. Same thing happened with my Toshiba before that. I bought my current Lenovo because of the DVD-RM drive and I think I maybe used it once.

 

My old HP laptop is of a similar age to your Lenovo but it's still going strong.

 

I’m looking for a very basic photo editing and organizing program. It needs to do these things:

• Attach multiple keywords to images
• Allow you to search based on the keywords
• Allow you to send images places
• Rotate images
• Crop images

It also needs to NOT do two things:

• Only preserve your photos’ organization system as long as you pay subscription fees
• Have the organization system live solely in the cloud, where future bankruptcies, mergers, hostile takeovers, and **** CEO’s could hold it hostage.

This is for my dad, who wants a photo organization system that is searchable in less than 3 days (unlike his pile of shoeboxes), but which he doesn’t have to think about any more often than he thinks about his shoeboxes, which is never. Mostly, he wants to give his scrapbooking wife a means of dealing with a century’s worth of images in a way that does not involve him pulling out dusty boxes, squinting at old photos one at a time, and then tossing them back on the pile—every day, all day. Until he dies.

I’ve looked at various programs, and they all pretty much either have lots and lots of intricate functions that I can’t even identify, and if I can’t, Dad definitely can’t, or they have the subscription/cloud problem. Sometimes both at once.

I’ve looked at maybe 12-20 programs, none seem right, and I am now frustrated and bored. So now I ask in the classical JCC tradition, “Will you guys do my homework/job for me?”

 

My FIL is an amateur photographer and he uses google photos (through google chrome and having a google account).

I think there is a small subscription fee after using a certain amount of storage though.

 

https://www.acdsee.com/en/store/?gc...3lCGIi2b7x0auMuai-w32BxmhvsscQVoaAjiLEALw_wcB

 

@darthhelinith —That doesn’t live forever and ever on a computer in your house though, does it? The plan is for my dad to shell out cash exactly once, stick the thing on a computer he has direct control over, and then never think about it ever again.

@SuperWatto — looks interesting. It does have that thing where there are 15,000 features that require training to use when I really wanted 5 features that can be operated by a lazy moron (me), but there may be no avoiding that. I guess it’s more important that whatever I succeed in building with it lives in my dad’s physical house instead of “out there” where it can be messed with. Because hackers, server crashes, and dodgy business practices are outrages, while someone’s house burning down is The Will of God and therefore okay.

 

It's a program I came to know decades ago, just for the features you mentioned. They probably heaped loads of other functionality on top of it but the basics should still be the same. You could even consider finding an older version, at no cost.

 

I've been looking at tablets on Amazon UK. I don't have a smartphone - I make very few calls and the dumb Nokia is fine at doing that. However, with the pandemic a lot of places are using apps for reservations, etc, and I don't have anything portable that will run them. I have a feeling a 10 inch tablet would be a bit large so I've been looking at 8 inch ones .I'd prefer Android as I don't want Apple (expensive). I started by looking at the Amazon Fire HD 8 but unless you faff around with it you are limited to the Amazon app store. There are quite a few 'no name' Chinese ones listed but I'd prefer a familiar brand - I'm a total noob at tablets aside from the Kindle I have. The main familiar branded ones are Lenovo, Samsung, and Huawei. I'm leery of the Huawei given the press that the company (and China) have had in the UK. I'd probably want to put Disney+ on it as well as I don't have anything that will run that.
So - any recommendations?

 

Hmmm...the thing is modern Samsung tablets are just as expensive as the basic iPad and the iPad Air.

And you may want to look at more storage (apps can take up storage once you start downloading content into them)

https://www.androidcentral.com/best-android-tablets

I cannot comment on Lenovo or Huawei.

 

Yeah - I already figured that I want one that has a slot for a memory card. I've been looking at the Huawei Mediapad M5 Lite this afternoon and it actually has gotten good reviews. Only problem is Amazon UK is out of the 8-inch model at the moment. Gonna do some more investigating on the other two brands tomorrow. I'd like to stay below £200 if I can.

 

Huawei may not include the Google play store anymore, IDK if they resolved that with Google or not. I’d research all of these things below and possibly consider you may have to buy a Fire or pay more.

and related, I just saw this post on an Android Tablet thread in the Mac forum I’ve been a member of for over a decade.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/android-tablets.2247883/post-28721518

There's some items to watch for with Android tablets:
1) How important are updates? - You may get what you get and no security patches/updates/fixes.
2) Ensure that the brand/type you get includes the play store - some cheaper/lower-end ones may use alternative play store systems.
3) Check the CPU, RAM, and Storage - anymore 64GB of Storage may work, but I keep seeing something about Android doing a system volume or backup volume separate from the main volume. So 64GB, half may be for the other volume and the other half is the OS + installed apps? (Need to verify this). RAM, I would ensure at least 2GB for a tablet - especially if you want a screen with 1920x1080 or higher resolution. Even with a good CPU if you're lacking RAM, you'll notice.
4) Research the pre-installed apps on devices. I'm not sure what your use-case is, but sometimes the pre-installed apps can't be removed + may create security risks on the device.

—

If I had to go Android, I’d go with Samsung myself.

 

I looked at a Lenovo one today - 10 inches, 4GB computer memory and 64 GB memory storage capacity. Comes in at just below £200 and has Android 9. The Huawei I was looking at was on Android 7 and I saw some forum posts from users not getting Android updates from Huawei so I've kinda ruled that one out.
Lenovo comes with the Play Store installed - I got a copy of the user manual and downloaded it.
On to Samsung tomorrow.

Edit - lack of Play Store was the problem with the Amazon Fire. Otherwise I might have gone with that.

 

I would also highly recommend the Pixel 3a or 3aXL. These are mid-range versions of the Pixel phones, but with the same nice cameras (just not as high-end processors). Very reliable, updated because they are Google's own phones.

 

I'm not really after a phone - I have a dumb phone for that and I really just use that for emergencies (like car problems). I'm not really a phone person. Hence the tablet instead of smartphone.

 

Ahhh gotcha, I misread. Yeah my bro has the Lenovo tablet and likes it.

 

Do you know the name of the Lenovo? Lenovo keep trying with tablets and sometimes throw in the towel. The Yogabook was a good example of that. Gen 1 came in Android and W10, and gen 2 was only W10.

As Samsung as releasing the S7 soon, folks mentioned older Samsung tablets including the s6 and the s6 lite.

 

Lenovo Tab M10 Plus.

 

Ah, okay. Cannot find too much on it, but if it suits your needs and price, awesome.

I know that Samsung's A line of phones and tablets are their mid-tier budget models, but actually not bad in the few reviews I've read or seen.

 

I looked at a Samsung on Amazon UK yesterday and got hold of the user manual. Quite frankly the Lenovo looked like it might be simpler to use for a tablet noob from what I saw in its user manual.

 

I only have a very minor but still annoying problem with my Lenovo B50-50 laptop. The space bar stopped working, while the other keys seem fine so far. I already took it to this computer store here in Spain, and the guy had no clue how to deal with the problem. Sure, maybe even in Spain I might get a replacement keyboard, but it would be Spanish and I want an English one. Already checked Amazon.uk but they don't ship to Spain. Now using an external (Spanish) keyboard. It works well enough but my laptop only has two USB ports and one is already occupied with the mouse. The real problem is that OSs and keyboards in any or at least some countries, at least in Europe, seem to be available only in that country's language. It was no problem in Hong Kong as it's way more international. But Spain, at least the part where I live, seems to be completely closed off from the rest of the world.

 

Spain is having a coronavirus resurgence - that might have something to do with it. How about Amazon US? Will they ship you one? Alternatively, do you have any UK friends who you could ship one to and they pass it on?

Edit - I'm in the UK and have had books shipped to me from the US site with no problems.
Also, if USB ports are an issue you could get a USB hub for it. That plugs into the PC and you plug the USB cords into it.
Samples (on Amazon UK) - https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=usb+hu...PO&sprefix=usb+hub,aps,773&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_5_7

 

Does anybody here know much about how to set up a WordPress blog? Somewhere in the setup instructions it says something about how certain themes will allow you attach tags and categories to particular blog posts. I would like to be able to do this, so readers could access information on mental health, for example, without having to put up with looking at my unhinged political screeds. I can't figure out which themes allow this and which don't, though.

My usual strategy for dealing with computer things I don't understand is to hit different buttons until I know what they all do, but I tried that on my sister's business site once, and almost destroyed it. So now I'm afraid of breaking WordPress. D:

 

Haven't used it but there are some tutorials on the Wordpress website. Number 8 on the list deals with themes.

 

@QUIGONMIKE I'm thinking of replacing my ancient iPad, and am dithering between the iPad 8th gen and the iPad Air 4. I know you bought the Air4 and had issues with the battery (as have several people), did you ever resolve your problem, and if not, how bad is the battery drain?